If you could hear Roger Bowling’s inner-monologue around the second round of his most recent fight – the end of a trilogy with Bobby Voelker – you would hear this incredulous question.

Then, if referee Josh Rosenthal had not – as many refs do – placed his hand over the microphone that amplifies his instructions for the audience, you would have heard Bowling ask those six words that spell disaster: “Why did you stop the fight?”

Bowling had just been knocked out by a knee that came out of nowhere in the main event of Strikeforce Challengers 17. Everything had been going pretty well up until that point, other than the fact that Voelker wouldn’t oblige Bowling’s request to give in to his aggressive style.

Pretty much everyone else had, at least in the beginning.

“If you look at all my previous fights for Strikeforce and bigger shows, even when I fought (UFC vets) Shamar Bailey and Seth Baczynski, I was just knocking those guys out so quick that I really didn’t have a lot of cage time,” Bowling told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I’m used to beating on somebody like Bobby and then the ending.”

In his past five fights, however, he’s gone past the first round, and once he’s even gone to decision (gasp!).

So opponents get tougher as your career improves – that’s a huge surprise. The question for Bowling (9-2 MMA, 2-2 SF) would be whether he chooses to continue doing the same thing as before or adapt to his environment. Guys aren’t going to be put away easy at the level of Strikeforce. Jerron Peoples (4-1 MMA, 0-1 SF) won’t, and he’ll be staring across from Bowling on Saturday.

“Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal” takes place at Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, and its main card airs live on Showtime. Bowling vs. Peoples is part of the untelevised prelims.

So what’s it going to be for Bowling?

“I’m not changing my game plan at all, but I’ve just got to get used to somebody still being there and being strong in the later rounds,” he said.

That’s something he needs to work on for himself, as well. Big punches take a lot of energy, and the more energy you burn, the more vulnerable you are to losing steam and exposing yourself to the kind of out-of-nowhere attacks that previously rang his bell.

Bowling, who works out of Team Vision in Cincinnati, is obviously working hard to make sure what happened in July during that rubber match never happens again. The mission now is to be more efficient in his aggression so that he’s able to keep the pressure on in later rounds, and just maybe, keep that ego in check so he’s not always chasing the finish.

He claims he’s learning.

“You’re not going to be able to knock everybody out all the time, so I still have a lot to learn,” Bowling said. “I’m young in the sport. I just want to take it as far as I can and keep putting on good shows for the fans.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by Gorgeous George, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Goze. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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